Bed-pan



(fie Model.)

B. A. DUGOT.

} BED PAN. No. 443,593. Patented Dec. 30, 1 890.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

BETSEY A. DUGOT, OF MALLET CREEK, OHIO. I

BED-PAN.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 443,593, dated December 30, 1890.

Application filed October 13,1890, Serial No. 367,943. (No model.)

.To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, BETsEY A. DUGOT, a citizen of the United States, residing at Mallet Creek, in the county of Medina and State of Ohio, have invented a new and useful Combination Douche and Bed-Pan, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to a combination douche andbed-pan, the objects in view being to provide a bed-pan which will meet all the general requirements of an article of this kind, but will be particularly useful as a combination article, by the use of which all kinds of surgical operations incident to medical practice can be performed with cleanliness and dispatch, saving time and strength of both nurse and patient. In other forms of bed-pans it is necessary to movethe patient at intervals during long surgical or medical operations for the purpose of removing the contents of the bed-pan, such movements of the patient being painful and frequently dangerous in the weakened state which follows operations of this character. By the use of my combined douche and bed-pan these operations can be successfully carried on, the contents removed, and the bed-pan washed out thoroughly without the slightest movement of the patient. 1

A further object of theinvention is to adapt it for irrigating purposes and bowel treatment, which is a departure from the work hitherto expected from a douche or bed-pan,

as all contents of the pan can be conducted through the wide lateral extensions provided for that purpose to a vessel placed at the side of the bed.

With these objects in view my invention contact 6, 12, and 13. that by distributing the weight of the patient It will be observed from an inspection of Fig. 1 that the inclosing-wall (designated by the numerals 3, 4, and 5) is in the form of a semicircle at the rear end of the pan.

An opening 7, which is approximately elliptical in form and made to conform to the contour of the human body, is formed in the top 1, near the rear end thereof.

The bottom 2 of the pan, as will be seen by inspection of Figs: 2 and 3, is concavo-convex, the highest point being at Sin Fig. 3, which shows the position of thepan while in use. It will be observed that the bottom of the pan is inclined downwardly from S toward the front in a longitudinal direction, and also from the center 9 toward the sides in a transverse direction. (See Fig. 2.) The bottom 2 is also extended in a downwardlyinclined direction at the sides to form lateral extensions 10 11, the ends 12 and 13 of which are on a lower plane than the bottom proper of the pan. The object of this construction is that when the pan is placed upon a soft bed it will rest entirely upon the front 6 and the ends of the lateral extensions 10 and 11, while the bottom remains in a raised or convex position, every point of which is higher than either of the three points of It will be understood between these three points, each at some distance from the other, and because of the concavoconvex shape of the bottom, the effect of the depression of the bed beneath the pan is reduced to a minimum.

For the purpose of strengthening the lateral extensions 10 and 11, and also of utilizing them for outlets, I have them each ,inclosed by a partially conical-shaped cover 14, Fig. 2, which is made larger at the line of contact with the inclosing-wall at the sides 3 and 5, and terminating in a round opcningat the extremities 1'2 and 13, which can be closed by screw-caps 15.

Openings 16 and 17 are formed in the inclosing-wall at the sides 3 and 5, which communicate with the above-described" conicalshaped outlets 10 and 11, formed by the lateral extensions 10 and 11 and the cover 11.

An inclined wall 18 is placed in the forward part of the pan, extending from side to side and from top to bottom, completely closing the pan at this part and forming a back wall or dam for the water. It will be seen by reference to Figs. 1 and 3 that this wall 18 extends in a curved direction from the extreme forward end of the opening 16 at one side 3 of the pan, crossing the center of the pan at a point a little forward of the forward end of the opening 7, and terminating; at the forward extremity of the opening 17 at the other side 5 of the pan.

It will be understood that at the junction 19 of the wall 18 with the bottom 2 the pan is broughton an incline tending toward each of the inclined lateral projections 10 and 11, and by reason of the transverse convexityof the bottom 2 this inclined channel 19 has its lowest points where it opens into the conical outlets 10 and 11, formed by the lateral extensions 10 and 11.

From the foregoing description it; will be understood that if liquid be poured into the pan it will flow by gravity toward the lowest points, which in this instance are the front and sides. That portion passing to the sides will enter the outlets 10 and 11 through the openings 16 and 17, while the residue which flows forward will be stopped by the wall 18 and turned into the said outlets by means of the channel 19. The out-lets 10 and 11, formed by the lateral extensions 10 and 11, being lower than any point of the bottom 2, it must necessarily follow that all of the liquid will flow into the outlets 10 and 11". In lieu of the screw-cap 15, a pipe 20 may be screwed on one of the outlet-openings, having at its outer end a piece of rubber tubing 21 to conduct the contents of the pan into a vessel placed at the side of the bed.

In practice the patient lies upon his back with the lower extremity of the back resting upon the thin front extension 6 of the pan, and as the opening 7 is longer from c to (Z, Fig. 3, than from c tof, Fig. 2, it follows that there will be sufficient room atd for the physician to insert his hands with the necessary instruments to treat the patient. \Vhen necessary, the contents may be washed from the pan by the introduction of water or other cleansing agent into the inlet 22, which enters the rear part i of the inclosing-wall.

The operation and advantages of my invention will be clearly understood from the foregoing description; but it may be well to mention that the lateral extensions 10 and 11 serve to prevent the pan from tilting sidewise, as well as to support the weight of the patient and prevent the bottom 2 of the pan from being depressed into the bed, so as to become lower than the outlets. This construction of the lateral extensions of the pan having their outer ends on a plane lower than the bottom of the pan is the essential feature of this invention.

It will be understood that my combinationpan can be used as an ordinary bed-pan by removing the pipe 20, with its tubing, from the lateral extension and placing another screw-cap 15 on that extension also.

All the advantages incident to the use of my invention as a combination-pan accrue when employed as a bed-pan, but to a limited extent, since the chief advantage of this invention resides in the readiness in which all foreign matter is washed from the pan with out removing the patient; but this advantage is not specially valuable in an ordinary bedpan, for in such case as soon as the patient has attended to the calls of nature the pan may very properly be removed for cleaning. It will also be seen that the pipe 20, with its tubing, may be attached to either of the lateral extensions.

I usually make the bed-pan out of sheet metal of a superior quality that will not corrode.

Since the lateral extensions 10 and 11 connect with the sides 3 and 5 of the pan just at the point where the back wall 18 is located, and the cover 14 forming a continuation of the back wall, it will be readily seen that every drop of matter will run down the inclined channel 19 toward and out through the outlets 10 and 11.

The principle upon which the combinationpan is constructed is the well-known law of nature that water seeks its own level, and hence the outlet-openin gs are made lower than the level of the bottom of the pan.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

1. A combined bed-pan having inclosingwalls, the top opening, a concavo-convex bottom, and inclined lateral outlet-extensions depending below the plane of said bottom,

substantially as and for the purpose dey scribed.

2. A combined bed-pan having a concavoconvex bottom provided with inclined lateral outlet-extensions projecting below the plane of said bottom for the double purpose of supporting the bottom above the bed and serving as outlet-openings for the contents of the pan, in combination with a rearwardlyinclined front wall forming a dam or channel, which inclines toward the outlet-extensions, substantially as and for the purpose described.

3. A bed-pan having a bottom inclined from the back toward the front and from the center toward the sides, in combination with downwardly-projecting lateral outlet-extensio'ns communicating with the lowest point my own I have hereto affixed my signature in of the sides of the pan and depending below pvesence of two witnesses.

the plane of the bottom to support the weight of the patient, and also to serve as outlets for the contents of the pan, substantially as and Witnesses:

for the purpose described. G. N. BUNCE,

In testimony that I claim the foregoing as Mrs. J. LAMPSON.

BETSEY A. DUGOT. 

